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      05-21-2015, 02:04 PM   #1
Alfisti
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Setting up a business in the USA

Canadian firm looking to expand into the US via the call centre side of our business. We literally have a blank sheet, could set up anywhere.

The following factors are therefore important in terms of city and specific site selection;

- Ideally Central or MTN timezone
- Access to Spanish speakers
- Call centre will be approx. 75 stations
- Primarily evening and weekend work, e.g. 4pm – 10pm weeknights if in mountain time
- Part time employment, ad-hoc projects are the norm so some peak and trough in workload
- As a result we require a large pool of suitable staff to recruit from at short notice
- Likely require a pool of staff at a 2:1 ratio, so 150 staff on the books at all times
- Additional pool of 10 to 15 supervision staff and one full time site manager
- If the site is successful we will look to hire more full time staff across other parts of the business
- Will be hiring in the region of 5 to 10 staff per week to maintain this level of staffing
- No sales, it is all Market Research (this is important)
- Traditionally a suitable role for college students or second family incomes
- Hourly pay rate will likely be just above state minimums
- No $hit-holes
- Owner will not go too close to Mexican border, so no El Paso or whatever
- initial thoughts were Denver (expensive though), Montana, Vegas, Minneapolis, Oklahoma, Kansas

We must do everything we can to avoid severe seasonal peaks associated with dependency on late high school and early university staffing. Q4 each year sees a mass exodus of staff due to school starting, at the same time workload increases significantly leading to large labour shortages.

A primary goal of this new site will be to avoid this situation during Q4, likely through attracting staff that are in late university or adults seeking supplemental family income. This requires detailed analysis of the local labour market and the required pay rate to recruit and retain such staff.

Thoughts, feelings, emotions?
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      05-21-2015, 02:20 PM   #2
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The overwhelming majority of call centers are actually in Utah as they have been determined to not have any audible accent. You'll find many experienced call center workers in that area.

You can find Spanish speakers anywhere in the US so that shouldn't be an issue.
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      05-21-2015, 02:34 PM   #3
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Florida, lots of Spanish and low wages. I'll manage for only 120k/yr.
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      05-21-2015, 02:44 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mccannable
Florida, lots of Spanish and low wages. I'll manage for only 120k/yr.
95k/yr, sorry buddy
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      05-21-2015, 02:46 PM   #5
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Florida, lots of Spanish and low wages. I'll manage for only 120k/yr.
Eastern time zone We have two centres in the East already.
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      05-21-2015, 03:11 PM   #6
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While Denver is expensive, you could always look at other places along the front range in CO like Fort Collins, Loveland, Greely, Colorado Springs, or Pueblo. In my opinion, Fort Collins is the nicest of those listed and it also has a large college for your potential workforce. Definitely not an issue finding people who can speak Spanish around here.
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      05-21-2015, 03:36 PM   #7
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Ha! looked at Fort Collins! Almost seems too nice, what's a reasonable pay rate there for entry level call centre work. Again, no sales.
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      05-21-2015, 03:52 PM   #8
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It's for the better. The south has a very lazy workforce.
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      05-21-2015, 04:18 PM   #9
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SE Washington state. Great climate, and low prices. PST, so wrong zone, but we're about a 3 hour drive to Seattle, or Portland. We also have a large bi-lingual population, but that's not that big of a deal, these days.
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      05-21-2015, 04:42 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfisti View Post
Ha! looked at Fort Collins! Almost seems too nice, what's a reasonable pay rate there for entry level call centre work. Again, no sales.

Honestly, I'm not sure what the going rate is for that type of work. I believe the CO minimum wage is a little over $8/hour, so maybe around $10 for call center work then.
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      05-21-2015, 06:19 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonCSU View Post
In my opinion, Fort Collins is the nicest of those listed and it also has a large college for your potential workforce. Definitely not an issue finding people who can speak Spanish around here.
Fort Collins is nice and highly rated. Had to laugh at the Spanish speaking tidbit, you guys are becoming the new Cali for that. Last time I was in Denver(last fall) I thought I was at my ex wife's family reunion with all the Spanglish I heard in the aeropuerto!
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      05-21-2015, 08:26 PM   #12
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SE Washington state. Great climate, and low prices. PST, so wrong zone, but we're about a 3 hour drive to Seattle, or Portland. We also have a large bi-lingual population, but that's not that big of a deal, these days.
I could do PST but anywhere near Portland is flooded with competition, they are all fucking useless though so yeah, maybe go in and kick some arse.
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      05-21-2015, 08:26 PM   #13
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Honestly, I'm not sure what the going rate is for that type of work. I believe the CO minimum wage is a little over $8/hour, so maybe around $10 for call center work then.
Yeah that's about as high as I can go, clients are being real tight arses.
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      05-22-2015, 11:09 AM   #14
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You might need to give your clients a reality check. That kind of wage point doesn't fly anymore in most of the big PX. Not even Alabama. Hell, not even Wally World.
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      05-22-2015, 11:39 AM   #15
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Come to Miami. Us Cubans need work . Set up shop in the Doral area. Lots of office spaces available.
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Also our E90 330 and 325 will soon have some sort of boost. So there is actually more of a chance to get more hp out of a 330 then a 335 in my opinion
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      05-22-2015, 01:34 PM   #16
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Come to Miami. Us Cubans need work . Set up shop in the Doral area. Lots of office spaces available.
About the most dangerous place to live in the US?
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      05-22-2015, 03:10 PM   #17
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About the most dangerous place to live in the US?
Like every major city, it has its good and bad areas Also in NY, I lived next to the 8th worst place to live in regarding crime (Newburgh) with no problems.
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Also our E90 330 and 325 will soon have some sort of boost. So there is actually more of a chance to get more hp out of a 330 then a 335 in my opinion
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      05-22-2015, 03:29 PM   #18
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That's why it's nice to live 3 hours from any major city.
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      05-22-2015, 03:38 PM   #19
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That's why it's nice to live 3 hours from any major city.
To each their own. That's what makes the world go round and round.

OP, would benefits be included in that meager wage?
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Also our E90 330 and 325 will soon have some sort of boost. So there is actually more of a chance to get more hp out of a 330 then a 335 in my opinion
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      05-22-2015, 03:59 PM   #20
Alfisti
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OP, would benefits be included in that meager wage?
Part-time positions, work peaks and troughs. No benefits.
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      05-22-2015, 04:30 PM   #21
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Most of our sweatshops are in CA. and FLA.
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